The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), an independent rights watchdog, said on Thursday that religious minorities in Pakistan continue to suffer violations of their fundamental rights even after recent laws meant to protect them. Launching its seventh annual freedom-of-religion report in Lahore, the commission pointed to misuse of blasphemy laws, forced marriages and conversions, hate speech and discriminatory practices as ongoing problems.
The report, titled “Sanctuary Denied: Freedom of Religion or Belief in 2025/26”, said scores of people accused of blasphemy remain stuck in legal limbo. It also said alleged perpetrators of an “organised entrapment network” have still not been investigated.
What the report documented
HRCP recorded attacks on the Ahmadi community, including two incidents in Chenab Nagar in October 2025 and June 2026. It described “increasingly overt attempts to exclude Ahmadis” from public and commercial life.
Girls from Christian and Hindu communities, the report said, continue to face abductions and forced marriages. Poverty and weak police responses make those harms worse. Discriminatory hiring, contested changes to school curricula, and the sidelining of minority concerns in mainstream media further undermine equal citizenship, according to the commission.
At the launch, minority rights defender Nabila Feroz Bhatti raised the case of Kamran Gill, a Christian medical practitioner from Sheikhupura. A mob set his dispensary on fire on Oct 9 after allegations that he had shared blasphemous content on social media.
Voices from the launch
HRCP Director Farah Zia warned that the state’s approach to religious minorities is becoming more exclusionary, according to the commission’s press release. HRCP’s Punjab vice-chair, Raja Ashraf, said blasphemy accusations have become a “means of exploiting and endangering vulnerable people”.
Arafat Mazhar of the advocacy group Shehri Pakistan urged the public to speak with lawyers who represent people accused in blasphemy cases and to let courts decide legal procedure, rather than turning accused individuals into symbols in the wider blasphemy debate. Former HRCP chairperson Hina Jilani stressed the institutional character of discrimination, saying: “Democracy should have no concept of ‘minority’ and ‘majority’.”
Laws passed, gaps remain
HRCP welcomed the National Commission for Minorities Act 2025 and laws in Punjab and Balochistan that raised the minimum marriageable age to 18. It noted, however, that the minorities commission has not been formed months after the Act’s passage, which it said raises questions about the government’s will to implement the law. In its recommendations, the commission called on the federal government to put the National Commission into effect.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- 2025: Parliament passes the National Commission for Minorities Act; HRCP later notes the body is still not constituted months afterward.
- October 2025: An attack on the Ahmadi community is recorded in Chenab Nagar.
- Oct 9: A mob burns the Sheikhupura dispensary of Christian doctor Kamran Gill after social-media blasphemy allegations.
- June 2026: A second attack on Ahmadis in Chenab Nagar is documented in the HRCP report.
- Thursday (report launch): HRCP releases “Sanctuary Denied” for 2025/26 and warns that rights abuses continue despite new legislation.
Aasan alfaaz mein
HRCP ne kaha hai ke Pakistan mein mazhabi aqaliyatein ab bhi haqooq ki khilafwarzi ka samna kar rahi hain. Blasphemy ke ilzaam, zabardasti shadiyan aur conversions, aur discrimination jaise masail jari hain. Kuch qanoon ban chuke hain, lekin minorities commission abhi tak nahi bani. Aam logon ke liye yeh matlab hai ke aqaliyat families ko police, adalat aur employment mein barabar hifazat milni chahiye.
